NEWS!

So, a while back, I sold this quirky little book called Gaming for Keeps to Entangled Publishing. When asked, I described it as Chuck meets The Hulk. My editor described the series potential as The Big Bang Theory meets The X-Files. Needless to say, it wasn't your typical romance.

The path forward from that wasn't a super-smooth one. The challenge of keeping things quirky and geeky and romantic all at the same time while still remaining fresh took a lot of mental twisting.

That's why I'm super excited to announce that Entangled has signed me for not one, not two, not three, but FOUR new TRAIT novellas. (Yes, officially the series is called For Keeps, but I still call it TRAIT.) I can't say a lot about what happens next yet, but I will say the mash-up for book 2 is a little different. This time around, we're going a little more Leverage meets Dollhouse meets Warehouse 13.

Like I said, it's a quirky series, and I am so appreciative that Entangled is as excited about this as I am. And my new editor makes me squee. So keep your eyes peeled for news regarding the release of book two in the For Keeps series, Conning for Keeps! 

Nothing to See Here

No, really. Personal life news happened yesterday and I'm running around like a crazy person. Specifically today I'm running from one side of the state to the other and back again...after an appointment at noon. So, there's no post today. However, the Gaming for Keeps blog tour is still going, and I'd love it if you'd stopped by these last half-dozen places and said hi :)

6/21: Ramblings from this Chick Guest Post

6/24: Cocktails and Books Interview

6/25: Stella ExLibris Guest Post

6/26: You Gotta Read Interview

6/27: Confessions from Romaholics Interview and Review

6/28: Dawns Reading Nook Interview

Normal posting (or as normal as it ever was) will hopefully resume next week :) 

Release and Blog Tour Madness!

So, you might have heard me mention that Gaming for Keeps came out yesterday, but if not, here are all the links your heart could want to find it....

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iTunes

Books-a-Million

All Romance eBooks

Now that that little bit of business is over, onto the blog tour! Some of these stops may have giveaways, but since I'm not sure which future ones will and which won't, I'm not mentioning any and you'll just have to look (because I'm evil, that's why.) Also, anything after yesterday is a general blog link since I don't have direct links yet.

6/5: Reading Reality Interview and Review

6/7: Tangled in Pages Interview

6/10: Harlie's Books Interview and Review 

6/11: Manga Mania Cafe Interview

         Here Be Magic Post

6/13: Storey Book Reviews Guest Post and Review

6/14: Bookishly Devoted Review

6/19: Bookin It Reviews Guest Post

6/20: As the Pages Turn Interview

6/21: Ramblings from this Chick Guest Post

6/24: Cocktails and Books Interview

6/25: Stella ExLibris Guest Post

6/26: You Gotta Read Interview

6/27: Confessions from Romaholics Interview and Review

6/28: Dawns Reading Nook Interview

Teaser Tuesday

So...I'd planned a righteous rant for today. Problem is, I'm still too angry and it came through in the words. No one needs that kind of negative energy from me. So, I'm holding off until I have a little more distance and then I'll still post about the most important parts of it. 

Instead, today we're going to celebrate! Gaming for Keeps comes out Monday!!! 
(EEP! *panicked muppet flail*)

Ahem. 

So yeah. I'm nerv-cited, heavy on the nerv. Which sounds a little like nerd which is kind of close to geek, so... how about this geektastic excerpt and I'm going to go flail in the privacy of my bedroom.

~~*~~

He waved the bartender over but a girl slid onto the stool next to Cal and the bartender stopped for her first. Typical.

“What is the strongest decent-tasting vodka drink you know how to make?” Penelope? Her voice startled him and his fingers slipped in the condensation on his mug. Only his quick reflexes kept the beer from sloshing all over him.

She turned his way. Same dark brown waves—this time done up with leaves pinning them to her hea —same button nose, same sensual golden-brown eyes. Somehow good fortune had decided to shine on him for the moment and brought her to his side again.

Penelope leaned on the bar and pursed her lips as she looked at him. Her gaze didn’t rake over him like other women’s—she stayed fixed on his eyes like she could pin him in his seat. He’d never felt so happy to be trapped. “For a minute there, I figured you had on some ridiculous gauntlets or something, but I guess you just have butterfingers.” She winked, breaking the spell she’d cast on him. “Cursed by a sorcerer with a flair for the ridiculous?”

His lips twitched into what felt like a very non-broody non-dark-elf smile, and he fought his way back to seriousness. “Unlikely. I would have killed him before the incantation left his lips. I rather think it was shock at the way in which you so boldly invaded the space I’d clearly defined as my own. Few would have the nerve to attempt such a maneuver.”

“Yes, well, not so long ago I sent a human aggressor into the fetal position with nothing more than a single move of hand-to-hand combat. I’m feeling rather full of myself right now. Pardon me if I don’t consider a dark elf who can’t decide between a scowl and a smile to be much of a threat.”

Oh, he already liked her a lot more than was wise. “I think I’ll choose to alternate between the two in order to keep you on your toes.”

“And here I thought you wanted to drive me off.”

“Perhaps.” He shrugged, noting the way her eyes lingered on his shoulders. “Or maybe I was just waiting for someone brave enough to stick around.” The bartender returned with her drink—something crimson and steaming. She’d said vodka, so he shouldn’t react to it too badly after the beer. The bartender set the glass down, and Cal tipped his head toward it. “I’ll take one as well, and put them both on my tab.”

The bartender was gone before Penelope managed to get a word out. Her mouth snapped shut a second later. She held up her glass, stared deep into the contents for a moment, then turned and met his gaze. “I appreciate the drink, but I hope you aren’t expecting anything for it.”

Huh? “Only the pleasure of your maddening company for as long as it takes you to drink it.”

She regarded him over the top of the glass, something like a challenge dancing in the depths of her eyes. The glass slowly tipped up, her lips molding against it, and she kept tipping. Her throat worked as the liquid poured through it. When she placed the glass back on the bar, it was empty. She ran her tongue along her lip, catching the drops of red that lingered. “And now?”

If she was this much of a spitfire all the time, he was doomed—in the very best way possible. Assuming she liked him, too...and that she didn’t have a boyfriend. He’d deal with the latter issue if and when it came up because, at the moment, she wasn’t acting like a woman with a man waiting for her.

He jerked his head to the side in a half-assed shrug—two could play her game. “And now you either walk away, let me buy you another drink, or stick around to talk just because you find me charming. Your choice.” He took a sip from his own glass and turned to examine the bottles lining the far side of the bar. And watch her in the mirror behind them.

Her lips curled up and then she pressed them together in a way that was simultaneously innocent and sexy as hell. “If I let you buy me another one I’ll have to drink it much slower. You could be stuck talking to me for hours. Positive you don’t want to take your chances with someone that’s more of a sure thing?”

This was so much better than a stalker-ific phone call could have ever turned out.

Cal tilted his head toward her and forced himself to frown when all he wanted to do was completely break character and grin like an idiot. “I don’t know about that.” He waved at the bartender and pointed at her empty glass when he finally got the man’s attention. “Seems like you just confirmed you are most definitely a sure thing as far as conversation goes.”

~~*~~

So there's a little taste-test of Cal and Pen. If you want more (and I hope you do) there are all sorts of things you can do!

Join the release day party on Facebook 

Add Gaming for Keeps to your Goodreads shelf

(It might be other places too, but I know you can) Pre-Order from 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iTunes 

Books-a-million

Kobo

AND the official blog tour starts tomorrow! So be sure to keep an eye out for all of that <3

Squeeage and Some Promo Stuff

Okay, I know, I know. I need to do an RT post. It'll be up sometime this week, but I still have crazy-mad RT hangover (dead tired and minimal brainage) so it needs to wait a couple days (brainage is reserved for book writing at the moment).

Instead, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has been pimping and buying Clockwork Mafia. I know steampunk is a fairly small list on Amazon, but it thrills me to no end to see one of my books on there. I don't know where it topped out last week, only that it dropped off the list over the weekend but was back on as of yesterday. It also earned a silver star and a staff pick on ARe. I'm insanely humbled.

In other news, you still have a little while to help me figure out what to call my street team members (which will, in turn, help me figure out what to name the team). To vote, you have to join the Entangled Publishing Group on Facebook. Then, there's sometimes a lag while you get all approved and stuff. And then you vote here. There's an additional option in the comments, so if that's your favorite, just say so in the comments and I'll count them up. I believe we're closing up voting on Friday, so get cracking!

I'll do the RT post this week and then talk about the street team and how to join next week!

Oh, and Gaming for Keeps (which you may or may not have seen me getting all a twitter about) comes out June 10! So keep that one on your radar!

NEWS! I Have News!

So I finally got the okay from my editor to announce this.

*blows trumpet*
*drum roll*

I have signed a three-book contract with Entangled Publishing's Brazen line! Yes, the line that brought you Katee Robert's Wrong Bed, Right Guy and Laura Kaye's One Night with a Hero will be giving you books from me too! Sexy books!

The series doesn't have a name yet, and I can't give any release information, but the first book in the series is tentatively called Seducing the Enemy and it's steamy. No, I mean it, there's an actual steam room in the book. :P

Seriously though, I'm super excited about this new venture, and I hope all of my loyal readers will follow me over to the Brazen side of life.

To that end, I'm probably going to be starting a street team at some point--maybe soon since Gaming for Keeps comes out in the near future. So if you love me and want to help out, please send an email with the subject line "Street Team Volunteer!" to selestedelaney@gmail.com

That's it for now. I'm hoping to have more awesome news to share soon, but in the meantime, please feel free to happy dance with me. As always, rhythm is optional. And with Brazen, so are clothes :P

Peeking Out of the Editing Cave

This month is going to be crazy busy with edits on two books happening as well as finishing the draft of another. Did I mention revising and subbing another one? Yeah. It's kind of crazy up in here. So unless I have something brilliant to say, I'm going to share music from some of those projects' playlists instead.

Right now I'm working on edits for Gaming for Keeps which comes out in September from Entangled Publishing. (WOOT!) Took me a while to figure out which song best fit this one, but considering it's for the Geek Collection and it's a romance...and... Well, this one just spoke to me.

Hope you enjoy it!

Next Big Thing

I was actually tagged by Katee Robert back in mid-December, but with the death-plague and holidays, I decided to wait until now because I'm just a rebel like that.


The book I'm using for this is the first in my new series with Entangled Publishing.

What is your working title of your book?

Gaming for Keeps, and I just found out that we're keeping the title. Yay!

Where did the idea come from for the book?

This manuscript was written specifically for Entangled's “Geek Collection” call. From there, I started thinking about when I used to play EverQuest and the drama and fun had with my guildies. The idea kind of took hold from there.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s kind of a romantic suspense. Sort of. Imagine Chuck meets DragonCon with lots of sexy thrown in for fun.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Our hero, Cal, would be played by Garrett Hedlund of Tron: Legacy and Country Strong fame (gotta love a man who can sing). And our heroine spitfire would be the lovely Amber Tamblyn from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, House, and a whole bunch of other things.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

TRAIT agent Cal Burrows just wants to spend the weekend with his new girl, Penelope, at ConDamned, but a terrorist with a taste for the dramatic puts his job as well as their lives and budding romance at risk.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

It was written for the submission call, but it was truly inspired by my love for quirky-straddling-the-right-and-wrong-sides-of-the-law shows like Chuck, Leverage, and White Collar. With a little bit of The Avengers (minus the super-powers) thrown in. But the basic idea at its core was inspired by my guildies who taught me that a game could be more than just a game.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Gaming for Keeps is contracted with Entangled Publishing and will be released as part of their Geek Collection in September.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first draft? A month? It’s a novella, so that’s not at all unreasonable. Then it went to my crit partners and through some significant revisions before I ever sent it in. 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I am so bad at this. I really don’t have specific books within the genre that fit both the type of story as well as my voice. So… Voice and stylistically, my work has been compared to Katee Robert's and Allison Pang's, but for story content, I still refer back to Chuck and Leverage.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

TRAIT itself is a construct of my imagination created for this book. It’s an intelligence agency composed of the rejects (though I prefer the term misfits) who didn’t make the cut for the better known agencies but were too valuable to let go. The team is full of quirks and different from your average spy network. For example, Cal is a computer genius with… we’ll call it severe anger-management issues when things get ugly.

From the inception of the agency, it was almost inevitable that a series would spring up, and I’m currently working on another story in the same world and featuring a couple of the TRAIT agents introduced in Gaming for Keeps.

Now onto the next victims! The only downside is that I can't hear the screaming through the internet:

First up is Graylin Fox.

And next is M. Andrew Patterson.

Have fun!

Lucky 7: Peek at Gaming for Keeps

This is also known as the "I hate you, Katee Robert" post. But I will play along.

The Rules:

Go to page 77 of your current WiP.
Go to line 7.
Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they're written. No cheating.
Tag 7 other victimes... er, authors.


Since my WiP is not to page 77 yet, I told Katee to pick a page. From page 46 of Gaming for Keeps:


Their bodies slippery, he held her close with one arm and brushed her hair back with the other. A piece of green fabric caught between his fingers. "We forgot to take out your leaves."


"I don't care." Paint ran down his cheeks and chin and neck in deep blue rivulets. She wanted it gone, wanted to see him again. Pen swept more water onto his face in an effort to wash away the makeup.






So, since I can't tag Katee, I need 7 other people. I'm thinking I'll go with (I totally want to tag @SkylaDawn, but I know she's laid up with wrist issues, so I will just send her healing vibes instead):

@JanelleAlexandr

@Dannigrrl5

@Bwlrgrl300

@DinaJames

@SuzanneLazear
@AngelaAddams

@CindySPape